This volume discusses some of the language-related factors involved in bilingual education. The first paper surveys the major results and current research topics in the field of syntax, with an emphasis on how they might be of relevance to bilingual education. The first part of the article gives an overview on the nature of the field of syntax, and discusses the field in terms of language typology and language universals. Among other topics that are discussed are variation studies, syntactic change, and the relationship of morphology and syntax. Proposed research is then outlined. The second article outlines the area of semantics, relating it to pragmatics and bilingual education. An overview is then given of cultural, lexical, structural, epistemological, and logical studies in an attempt to reconcile their methods with linguistic studies in dealing with bilingual education. The final article presents a view of the linguistic tasks which children undertake during the first five years of life, and aims to provide a general view of the language skills a child brings to language instruction in the primary years. (Author/PJM)